Loren on cheaper medicine act

CHEAPER MEDICINE ACT

The government must exercise political will to fully implement the purposes and provisions of the Cheaper Medicines Act. While the drug corporations have submitted a list of the medicines they propose should be covered by the law, the government must not necessarily be governed by such list, but should decide in the greater interest of the consumers, who are ill and mostly poor.
We should not allow the drug companies to interpret the law for us, because they would do so in their own favor. For so long they have exploited our people by charging excessive prices for their medicines sold in this country, even while they are priced much lower in other countries. The President must go ahead with the executive order setting the maximum prices for such medicines as determined by the law.
Medicines are essential items necessary for life itself. While the drug companies are entitled profit, including reserves for research, they should be reasonable and not exploitative.

LOREN LEGARDA

Spare the trees,Loren

Spare the trees
The Department of Public Works and Highways should spare the venerable old trees along MacArthur Highway which the artists are trying to save. Engineering ingenuity can devise means by which the traffic problem could be solved without devastating the environment.
A single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 pounds a year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support two human beings. Trees also reduce the greenhouse effect by shading our homes and office buildings. This reduces air conditioning needs up to 30%, thereby reducing the amount of fossil fuels burned to produce electricity. This combination of CO2 removal from the atmosphere, carbon storage in wood, and the cooling effect makes trees a very efficient tool in fighting the greenhouse effect.
Thus trees absorb the carbon dioxide emitted by cars speeding along the highway. They protect the lungs of thousands of humans and residents along the highway from ailments coming from the atmosphere. They also protect the world against climate change devastation. We must spare the trees.

Loren discuses socio-economic affairs

Today’s state of socio-economic affairs should not be business-as-usual. It is high time for the world to slow down this contemporary development practices.
It is high time to re-think development - and for a more holistic development philosophy to emerge and to prevail.
- the kind of development that transcends economic capital measures such as GDP;
- the kind of development that has regard for social, cultural and natural capital of countries;
- the kind of development that is not only sustainable but also adaptable;
- the kind of development that does not create new risks and promotes resilient investments;
- the kind of development that is founded on sustainable and equitable socio-economic development, ecosystems protection, cultural resilience, and good governance.
Now is the time for all of us to unite on all these challenges, and to transcend territorial boundaries, political persuasions, and institutional affiliations.
If only we keep an open mind, an open heart, and a genuine passion for good governance, I believe we can make an important difference for our people especially the poor, for our society, and for the world.
The time to make that difference is now.
Humanity’s future depends upon us.
Let us be the change we seek.
Thank you and Mabuhay!

LOREN LEGARDA

LOREN: The challenge in development is undeniably clear

The challenge in development is undeniably clear.
Through the centuries since the industrial revolution, Mother Earth has been at the mercy of human’s insatiable desires for material wealth and economic progress. Yet our ways of thinking and pursuing development have depleted our social, cultural and natural wealth. Sadly, we must admit, our so-called development has made the poor more vulnerable, has placed some cultures at risk of extinction, and has pushed ecosystems services like fisheries beyond repair.
Contemporary development practices have been irresponsible since they have allowed disaster risks to grow, to spread, and to prevail until today. Urban poverty, weak governance, ecosystems decline, vulnerable rural livelihoods, turbo-charged by climate change have altogether created enormous risks in our cities and communities and have put the poor in greater peril.These risks will constantly challenge our human capacity to cope, imperil all development gains, and keep the Millennium Development Goals elusive.
The “slumdog millionaire” reality that has bedeviled many developing countries is a wakeup call for all. We are in a vicious cycle of economic boom and bust, with the peoples and environment at the receiving end of a failing model of economic development. This has entrapped the poor and the vulnerable, and has corrupted societies. We cannot continue using Mother Earth as collateral in our economic games of chance.

LOREN LEGARDA